<p>College is literally the most exciting part of senior year but also the most stressful and time consuming. Especially because I have almost no idea where I want to go.
I have a 3.96 unweighted GPA and 4.38 weighted at a private school, a 2090 sat score (math is not for meee...) but I'm going to take the ACT in October & have gotten 4's and 5's on all my APs. I have almost 1000 hours of community service and participate in tutoring, CSF, NHS, lots of culture and language volunteer work etc. I speak Chinese and have taken both Spanish and Japanese in high school. My classes are pretty much geared toward what I want to major in (International/global studies or development studies..that type of thing). I've done volunteer work outside the country also.
I live in California but would really love a change of scenery. I've been researching but am still pretty clueless. Good financial aid and scholarships would be nice, my mom is a single parent & my dad is on disability in china.
I'm open to basically anything. Which is partly the problem.
i'm serious about the taco pillow</p>
<p>Sounds like financial aid is going to play a big role in your college search, do you know how much your parents can pay each year? 10k? 20k? Nothing?</p>
<p>maybe 25K-30K. but that would be stretching it. I also plan to work in college. </p>
<p>American University in Washington DC will give you the opportunities you are looking for.</p>
<p>I’ve looked at AU before but it seems doesn’t seem financially feasible, i’ve heard the financial aid is a little weak. 
thank you for the suggestion though!</p>
<p>Actually, American has very decent aid…others I would look into - GW (yes, they’re pricey but they’re trying to attract certain students and you may be one), Washington University at St Louis, and then i’d cast a wide net…does your high school have any kind of college guidance office? If so, go to literally every college info visit that’s done there over the next 6 weeks…and you’ll begin to see colleges you like…</p>
<p>The good news is that there are plenty of schools outside of CA where you can major in IR. You’re already fluent in Chinese and have some skills in two other languages. You don’t have to go to JHU, Tufts, or Georgetown to get a great education in this field.</p>
<p>However, I want you to run the net price calculators at these three schools and two others: UDenver and Syracuse. I want you to see how much the schools would expect your family to pay for your education.</p>
<p>Then we can narrow the list once we know what your money criteria are.</p>
<p>Everyone else’s suggestions sound good. Do I get a taco pillow? What is a taco pillow?</p>
<p>THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH. a taco pillow is exactly what it sounds like. a pillow with a taco on it. so you can sleep on your lovely mexican food.
jkeil911 actually a lifesaver. </p>
<p>Yes, run the Net Price Calculators on EACH school’s web site. They are specific to their own school.</p>
<p>Where is my taco pillow?</p>
<p>What is your M+CR score?</p>
<p>I don’t think AU meets need, so that could be a problem.</p>
<p>Have you asked your mom if she CAN pay $25k per year? or are you talking about loans??</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids AU met 100% need for 82% of their freshman last year. It’s not Harvard, but the odds of getting a lot of aid are pretty good. Also OP, you should note that around 50% of students graduated without debt last year. Again, it’s not Harvard, but that is respectable.</p>